Forever Young
by Dr. Holland
Summary: Sequel to Variations on a Theme: La Vie En Rose. The children of Chuck and Blair Bass, Dan and Serena Humphrey, and Nate and Jenny Archibald grow up and experience life, love and loss... and use their parents' tangled past as a compass through it all. A Team Endgame (CB DS NJ), post-season 6 AU fic. Dedicated to Where's Waldorf.
1. Chapter 1

**FOREVER YOUNG**

**Summary:** Sequel to _Variations on a Theme: La Vie En Rose. _The children of Chuck and Blair Bass, Dan and Serena Humphrey, and Nate and Jenny Archibald grow up and experience life, love and loss... and use their parents' tangled past as a compass through it all. A Team Endgame (CB+DS+NJ), post-season 6 AU fic.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing in the Gossip Girl universe, not even (sadly) Chuck or Nate. Major props to Cecily von Ziegesar, the CW, the producers, actors, and crew, and everyone involved with bringing these amazing characters to life.

**Dedicated to Where's Waldorf/redonesie. Happy belated birthday, dear!**

_Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while_

_Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies_

_Hoping for the best but expecting the worst_

_Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?_

**September 2033.**

Lia Bass walked into the grand foyer of the Bass family townhome, dropping her Constance jacket on the foyer table. Normally she wouldn't mind hanging it. Although their parents never fussed much about little things like that (that was what the _help _was for, Chuck and Blair would have said), the fear of Dorota had been placed into all the Bass children since infancy. But today, Lia was greatly annoyed that her afterschool time had been cut short by this impromptu family meeting, especially when she was trying her very best to dethrone Philomena Sparks.

It was quite... _humiliating _that a mere _freshman _would dare challenge her reign, Lia thought. Never mind that Lia had been the first freshman in Constance history to be Queen. Even her mother Blair hadn't managed _that _particular feat until the end of sophomore year. It was a point of pride for the younger of the Bass twins. The fact that their older brother Henry had been a popular, _dangerously_ handsome senior had only helped matters.

But ever since Spring Break – and Henry's discovery of her secret relationship with his best friend Alex– Lia Bass had been off her game.

The fight between Henry Bass and Alex Archibald at the Bass family chalet had been the stuff that Upper East Side legends were made of! What happened in Austria apparently didn't _stay _in Austria, she thought angrily. Especially when dumb _Henry _gave Alex a black eye... and _stupid _Alex bruised Henry's jaw. Dumb, stupid, idiotic _boys._

Lia had to spend the rest of the break at the Lyon chateau with only her BFF Sam for company... Sam Humphrey, who'd just begun to warm up _a little _to Henry... then Sam who declared she'd hate Henry forever for being such a _stupid, chauvinistic, sexist male pig _after he'd fought with Alex.

When Lia got back to Constance, things had been awful. That was because of her twin sister Ellie's pregnancy scare. Of course, it had been an _eighth grader, _Philomena, who'd done the hacking into Ellie's personal cloud and learned about the test results. Although they were negative, the fact that a Bass girl had actually taken a pregnancy test spoke volumes. That juicy tidbit hadn't just made the social media rounds or _Gossip Girl; _it landed on Page Six. (The _Times _and _The New Yorker _would have run an essay about it, given the public's fascination with all things Bass, but their extended family's sheer power and influence was able to stop _that _little story in its tracks.)

But neither the Bass billions, nor Uncle Nate's political power, nor Uncle Dan's poison pen, had been able to stop the rumors from flying fast and furious at Constance or St. Jude's. While Henry's exploits were the stuff of school legend, the Bass twins were depicted as incorrigible sluts. It had actually been a very romantic ski trip before stupid Henry played cockblocking big brother, but now it was known as "the orgy in the Alps" in the annals of both schools.

Not even Lia's best social savvy had been able to save the situation. And what was worse, their parents knew every single detail. (Chuck spent a good _month _of Sunday dinners muttering darkly over the fact that Blair had vetoed personal bodyguards for the children, to which Blair replied: "I regret _nothing."_) Everyone, including their parents, knew that Ellie had lost her V-card. Everyone, including their parents, assumed Lia had (although she hadn't). So the Bass twins had their freedom restricted accordingly.

"That's totally unfair, Mom!" Ellie, usually the more easygoing of the twins raged when she was informed of her card's new limit after the fallout subsided in the spring. "Dad's already had Dex sent God-knows-where and I'll never see him again! Now, you're imposing a five thousand dollar per month _limit? _Our car service is _suspended? We have a curfew?"_

"Apparently, we're now _Humphreys_," Lia had murmured dryly. "No money and no transportation means we're being locked in our Bass tower. I always knew Dad was stuck in the Dark Ages, Mom, but I wouldn't have expected this from you..."

"And I expected my girls to conduct themselves as _ladies," _Blair had replied in a steely voice. "With great privilege comes great responsibility. Just because you're in high school doesn't mean the rules of this household have changed."

"I didn't know there was a no-sex rule," Lia snapped. "_Especially_ considering what our _big brother _was allowed to get away with, and our parents' _infamous appetites _for..."

Blair's eyes narrowed. "Lillian Cornelia Bass, _have you forgotten who you're talking to?"_

"Have _you?"_

Lia's arms folded. Inside she was trembling (because this was _Mom, _Blair Waldorf Bass, the 5'4" woman who could make hundreds of employees across the Bass Industries and Waldorf Design empires shake in their boots, grand dame of the Upper East Side, Queen of Manhattan). But outwardly Lia stood her ground. Because she had a point to make!

Besides, didn't everyone say she was just like her mother?

"_Lillian."_

"_Mom. _If these rumors had been about _Henry_, we wouldn't be having this conversation at all. Even the press would be applauding! 'Like father, like son.' Women are supposed to be equal, it's the twenty-first century! It's not fair that Ellie and I are held to a completely different standard than Henry is, and you know it!"

Blair didn't say anything. Daughter and mother engaged in a staring match that seemed to have no end in sight... for Lia was indeed _just like her mother. _So Ellie served as mediator (as always).

"Mommy, we're just asking you to reconsider," Ellie pleaded. "You're not just punishing me and Li, you're also punishing Sam and Chlo. They didn't do anything wrong and you _know _it's a huge help to Auntie S to have our driver take the girls wherever they need to go. You know it would be a lot for her and Uncle Dan to afford on their own, and well... it _is _Constance."

Sigh. "Sometimes, Eleanor, I wonder if you're not really your Auntie S's child," Blair said. "You're certainly more like her than even her own daughters are."

A toss of the head, a shrug, and a giggle. And Blair was as charmed as when her best friend and sister-in-law did it.

"Fine. I'll have my assistant call our car service and reinstate both of your individual privileges..."

"_Yes!" _said both twins in unison.

"..._with _the provision that the driver logs where you go, and that you message me _and _Dad whenever you go _anywhere _that isn't school or home."

"_What? _Not fair!" Lia had cried.

"What about our cash flow, Mommy?" Ellie asked. "You seriously don't want us to even _hang out _with our friends?"

Blair ignored Lia. "You're going to have to talk with your father about that..."

Of course, Chuck had been unyielding. For the first time in their lives, not even the best of their "Daddy's little girl" tricks had worked on Dad. It wasn't until _September _that their practically limitless credit cards had been restored. As for the summer, it had been one where the girls were practically _tethered _to their mother. After chafing at being so restricted, Lia and Ellie eventually relaxed and enjoyed the time away from the city.

They'd traveled first to Aunt Jenny's atelier in Paris, then visited with their grandparents... and Aunt Serena and her girls joined them there. Blair and Serena re-lived their youth, and shopped until they dropped, for themselves and their daughters... even Sam left the city with nearly a dozen couture dresses, and double the pairs of shoes.

Then it was time to spend time in the chateau (Lia's favorite spot on the planet), with Dad and Henry joining them toward the end of June. After that, the entire family traveled to Hong Kong, leaving Dad and Henry there... and spent the rest of the summer at Serena's California summer home in Montecito, where Uncle Dan and Rudy joined the group. (Uncle Dan had a book project that wasn't going well so he was particularly grumpy.)

It was the first time Lia could remember that she hadn't spent at least part of the summer in the Hamptons... and it was also odd that she hadn't seen any of the boys from St. Jude's since school ended (which was also a first). So she felt rather odd when she arrived back in town a few days, and arrived at Sybil Chu's party fashionably late the Saturday before school began.

As soon as the Bass twins stepped over the threshold, with the Humphrey girls in tow, the whispering began. Sure, neither of them had been invited, but _that _never stopped either of them before. They were Basses, princesses royal of New York City... there wasn't a spot on their island where they could not tread. They were the wealthiest, prettiest, and most alluring girls of their generation (especially because Serena van der Woodsen's daughters insisting on dressing as if they were _homeless _half the time). What did they have to fear?

Well... the likes of Philomena Sparks ruling the roost, for one. For all the girls were hanging on that _freshman's _every word as if it were gospel. She had fiery red hair, enormous blue eyes, sensual lips, and a flair for fashion that _almost _equaled Lia Bass'... and to the untrained eye, surpassed it. What she lacked in funds for one-of-a-kind original couture, she made up for with the same unique sass and brass that had made her mother the terror of her parents' generation.

Philomena looked up and her eyes grew chilly.

"Lillian, Eleanor," she cooed. "Samantha _and_ Chloe. It's been _ages, _darlings! Don't be strangers, _do _come right over and tell us all your news!"

Lia walked confidently to the middle of the circle to face Philomena. "Welcome to high school, Philomena," she said icily. "I see you haven't changed a _bit _since summer camp in elementary school."

"_You_ certainly have," sniffed Philomena, looking the older girl up and down. "What on _earth _has happened to your hair, Lillian?"

Lia's hand instinctively fluttered to the nape of her new pixie cut. "It's all the rage in Paris right now." _Goes to show what you know, _her almond-shaped amber eyes said.

Philomena chuckled. "Ah, I always _did _say that Parisian girls' taste is overrated. What works on the runway _doesn't _necessarily work in the halls of St. Jude's... I see neither your _sister _nor Serena van der Woodsen's girls have succumbed to the scissors..." some of the girls started to snicker, "...and thank heaven for that. After all, Samantha Humphrey's features are so _masculine..."_

"I'll make your _nose _masculine, you _bitch," _Sam threatened, drawing her fist back. Both twins pulled her back, while her sister just shook her head, and signed to her, "It's not worth it."

"What a bunch of _losers,"_ said Philomena to the crowd. "_Manly _Sam Humphrey, the pride of the junior class, with little sister Chloe Cat's-Got-Her-Tongue. Slutty Ellie, spreading her legs for a shiftless Baizen. And poor little Lia, who's hopelessly in love with her _cousin... _an affliction that both you _and _your brother apparently share!"

"You filthy little _liar!" _raged Sam. To the other girls, she snapped, "Are the rest of you going to _listen _to this crap?"

You could have heard a pin drop. Lia instantly sized up the situation. The Sparks girl and her allies had take advantage of the vacuum and apparently done a _ton _of work in the Hamptons. And there were many, many kids who held grudges.

Although none of their children were as mean as young Blair had been, or as calculating and scary as young Chuck had been, there were many who felt that Henry, Lia, and Ellie Bass were insufferably elitist... even as they followed their every move, copied their style, and envied their family's wealth and position. Their minions and acquaintances were drawn from a larger circle, but they were closest to their parents' friends – the Archibalds and the Humphreys, and occasionally, the Vanderbilts and the Kishlovskys.

"Philomena Sparks," said Lia calmly. Voice dripping poison, fire flashing from her eyes. "You can't bully us. If you want to make the rest of your time at Constance miserable, _do _continue as you've been doing. And as for the rest of you, a Bass _never _forgets."

That was a week and two days ago. Lia had spent the first seven days of the school year doing two things: establishing her natural academic dominance, and putting the pieces of her plan into place.

And now, her parents decided to call a family dinner. She didn't get it. Henry was at Columbia, and Ellie had ballet. (Lia had piano, but she was so naturally inclined toward it that she sometimes blew off her lessons, preferring to just play after dinner before her mother's cut-off hour of ten o' clock pm. It helped her clear her head.) Her father was on the jet home from Singapore for most of the day. What could be so important?

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

_Let us die young or let us live forever_

_We don't have the power but we never say never_

_Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip_

_The music's for the sad man…_

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

Ellie Bass hadn't been to a single ballet lesson all year long. Not even her twin sister could know... and she _hated _keeping things away from Lia. Although everyone knew that Sam and Lia were best friends, Lia and Ellie had shared a womb. This meant that it was difficult to hide the truth, and to lie was impossible...

"Dex, please, we _have _to stop," Ellie said just then, buttoning her blouse with shaky fingers. She'd told her boyfriend that they had to be careful, but each time, they both got so caught up in each other that it was difficult.

But his mouth was on her neck. Ellie couldn't contain her reaction. How could something so wrong feel so _right?_

She'd been friends with Dexter Baizen ever since they were very young. His mother, Penelope Shafai, was an old friend of Blair's who'd hooked up with his father as a drunken summer fling when she was between her second and third years of Harvard Law. That led to a shotgun wedding (literally) and a short, disastrous marriage. Penelope passed the bar, "dumped the bum" (as she put it) and was now one of the wealthiest litigators in the city.

The one thing that Ellie remembered was that her parents always argued about the kind of boy Dex really was. Blair observed to Chuck whenever she thought Ellie couldn't overhear that "Dexter is nothing like his father, or his mother for that matter, and thank God." To which Chuck would always reply, dryly, "Blood will always out... there's a reason Henry doesn't much care for him." (Blair: "Then how do we explain _you, _Chuck Bass?" And her parents would exchange meaningful looks that Ellie didn't even want to _begin _to understand.)

Ellie had loved Dex from the beginning. She couldn't remember a time when his dashing, dark good looks didn't make her heart beat fast, even when they were small children. And the feeling was more than mutual.

When Ellie was nine and Dex was almost-but-not-quite twelve, the children all went to the Brooklyn Public Library for a puppet show. (The Humphreys were babysitting.) During the show, when Aunt Serena and Uncle Dan disappeared together (which they often did), Dex tapped Ellie's shoulder, saying he had to show her something... they slipped away from the crowd, first Dex, then Ellie, sneaking, and then running out of the building...

Ellie couldn't remember how many blocks they walked before Dex stopped right beside a beech tree.

"Here it is."

And there, carved into the wood, was something that made Eleanor Bass smile.

_D.B. + E.B._

And around their initials, encircling it, enclosing it was a heart.

"Ellie, I..." he stammered, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I like you. I _really_ like you. You know that, don't you?"

She was blushing, but didn't look away as she nodded.

"And... and you. You like me too, right?"

Her voice came out as a whisper. "Yes."

"I... we're just kids, Ellie. But someday, we won't be. I carved this so you'll always remember. Remember us. Remember _me._"

"Oh, Dex. I don't even need to remember _that. _How could I ever forget you?"

And then he kissed her. Softly, innocently. First, on the cheek, like a whisper of breath, feather light. Then on the back of her hand, oh so gently.

That was all. Despite their famous last names, neither Dex nor Ellie were ready for more in that moment. And during the next few years, when Dex was ready and Ellie wasn't, he guarded her like a silent sentinel, a constant friend to Alex Archibald primarily because it put him in _her _orbit, jealously guarding her from any boy who dared get too close to her...

"Dex's getting a little crazy, El," observed Sam dryly as usually-quiet Dex _shredded _a boy who'd copped a feel of Ellie's boob during Chloe's thirteenth birthday party, the spring of the twins' eighth grade year. "And possessive. I'd watch out."

"Sam," said Lia patiently. "El's the _little sister _and the _daughter _of two crazy, possessive Bass men. Forgive her if she thinks that's what guys who like you are _supposed to do."_ Ellie didn't miss her sister's glowering in the direction of Al Archibald (who was _totally_ looking down Ashley Stein's blouse as he chatted her up).

The summer she was fourteen and he was seventeen, things between Dex and Ellie began to heat up. It was in France, right before the horseback ride that they'd shared their first heated kisses in the stall after Al and Henry's horses had been drenched by her sister. Then, after Dex suddenly was sent home, she didn't see him until they all arrived in the Hamptons...

...and gave new meaning to hotter than July. Dexter Baizen was making Eleanor Bass feel things that she had no _right _to feel... that a good girl shouldn't _want _to feel... making out in abandoned sheds and back bedrooms... doing everything _but... _almost but not _quite_ going all the way...because she was a _good girl... _and besides, her parents would _kill her._

For all that, their relationship was far more than stolen corners. Dex and Ellie really did enjoy each other's company. The parents of four alpha people, Carter Baizen's son and Chuck Bass' daughter were quieter. They preferred the sidelines and the shadows, and both enjoyed noticing (and talking over with each other) the little things.

"Do you think something's going on with Al's parents?" Dex asked as they walked the beach early one morning before anyone else was up.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because they used to live together, and now they don't. His mother barely comes to the States anymore, and his father barely leaves."

"That's because _she's _a designer with a label based in New York, London, and Paris, and _he's_ the Senate majority whip," Ellie pointed out. "Imagine what the taxpayers would say if Uncle Nate was jetsetting every week? Besides, he and Aunt J seemed really cozy in France... not disgustingly so like _my _mom and dad, but like _normal _old people. They really love each other."

"Maybe you're right. But I don't know, El," said Dex, a child of divorce, more slowly. "Al's not talking about it, but I can tell it's getting to him. I think he misses his Mom, and wishes she would just live in New York with his Dad. He just doesn't know how to fix it."

"Oh, is that why he refuses to talk to my sister about that kiss?"

Dex shrugged. "That's _them._"

"Clueless and confused?" she chuckled, low. "That sounds just like my sister and your friend!"

He suddenly spun her around on the sand and drew her close.

"Glad that's not our problem," he murmured, staring at her as if he wanted to memorize her features, then reeling her in for a perfect kiss.

The irony was that it wasn't until the ski trip that Ellie lost her V-card. Sure, she wasn't quite fifteen yet, so she was scandalously young, but things just felt so _right_. It was after an amazing day on the slopes. Lia and Sam and Henry and Al had gone out on the town... Ellie and Dex begged off, saying they were tired from all the skiing. Soon they were engrossed in a corny 1960s musical that none of the others were interested in. They had the place to themselves, one thing led to another, and...

Dex made it _so _special for her. Ellie loved being with him like that, so close, with nothing between them. With him, she could never be afraid... she didn't feel self-conscious about how she looked or what he was thinking about her... everything was just _right. _Perfect, in fact.

The next day, Henry caught Al and Lia playing around on the slopes, put two and two together, and then proceeded to completely and totally lose his shit. That was a fight for the ages... snapshots and even video of the two heirs and former best friends brawling in the snow landed all over the international media and even sparked a national conversation in the United States about "rich boys behaving badly."

Of course, Lia had betrayed her! She'd found the condoms in Ellie's luggage when she was "borrowing" a sweater from her, and it hadn't taken much to put two and two together. Lia was all giggles and imploring questions the night before Henry caught her with Alex... but of course, she used every tool in her arsenal in her fight with their older brother.

"Goes to show what you know, Henry Bass! While you're so busy cockblocking your best friend? Dex Baizen is screwing your other little sister's brains out!"

Ellie could have _killed _Lia that day. Henry had pummeled Dex, then called their parents and told _everything. _Normally, Ellie adored her big brother. But after he ruined her and Dex, she really wished he'd drop dead!

It had been _six months _since she'd seen Dex anytime except for during the ballet lessons she pretended to go to... the first time in her lifetime she could remember not being with him every day. An hour every other week wasn't enough...

Ellie looked over her shoulder, watching him watch her as she finished buttoning her Constance uniform blouse.

"What's wrong, baby?"

"It's not fair, Dex."

"What isn't?"

"That we can't be together _all the time."_

She turned back around, tears filling her eyes. Hugging herself... but she knew he'd come to her. He always did.

Was there ever a boy so _wonderful? _Ellie loved the way Dex pulled her back against his chest.

"Dex, I'm sorry, I'm being silly."

"No, you're not. It's frustrating for me too. But you know, we won't always be fifteen and seventeen. I'm off to college next year... and you'll be there two years after that... and this will seem like nothing."

He kissed her ear, and Ellie's eyes shut as she savored the soft press of his perfect lips.

"El, I love you," he said.

She inhaled. "I love you too, D," she said. "So much."

Now, she had to go to this stupid family meeting, Ellie thought resentfully, walking out of Dex's mom's apartment. She didn't want to. Although she'd forgiven Lia for her blabbermouth, it would be a long time before she'd forget what _Henry _did. For even though there was a time when Ellie Bass thought her big brother was _everything..._

_..._that honor now belonged to another boy.

_Oh, Dex. I miss you so much!_

_I'm going to find a way to see you..._

_...somehow._

**XOXOXOXOXOXO**

_Fear not when, fear not why, fear not much while we're alive_

_Life is for living, not living up tight, see ya somewhere up in the sky_

_Fear not dying, I'll be alive for a million years, bye bye_

_So not for legends, I'm forever young, my name shall survive…_

**XOXOXOXOXOXO**

Henry Bass' fathoms-deep dark eyes rolled to the top of his head when his smartphone buzzed for the third time in five minutes. For a second, he thought about ignoring it. But knowing his parents, they'd had kill switches installed on each Bass limo to ensure compliance from their children…

"Yeah?"

"Henry, where are you?"

Groan. "Mom, I'm just leaving the Upper West Side…"

"Not according to my app. Since when did Westchester County merge into the city? Did I miss something? What are you doing up there?"

"Do you _really _want me to answer that, Mother?"

He could feel Blair's glare through the cellular connection. "Never mind, I don't want to know any more. Just…"

"Stop by the dorm, take a shower, put on a suit, and don't forget to wear a tie." He paused for a beat. "Got it."

Sigh. "I just wish you'd settle down, Henry…"

"Mom, I'm _eighteen. _Just because you and Dad have been joined at the hip since you were _four _doesn't mean that it's normal."

When she didn't say anything back, he knew he'd gone too far.

"Mom, I'm…"

"Seven," Blair cut him off. "We're looking forward to seeing you. Bring your overnight bag. You can go back to Columbia in the morning."

"Mom…"

The dial tone sounded in his ear. Before he could react, his phone rang again. Cracking a grin, he picked it up.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey. Is Mom right there?"

"She is."

"Why is she being so… so…"

"So Blair?" Chuck finished. "You'll see at dinner. We've something to share with everyone."

Henry suddenly perked up.

"Everyone as in… the Humphreys and Archibalds?"

"Thankfully, _no," _Chuck said. "This will be a Humphrey-free event. Basses only."

He felt a little deflated, even as he chuckled. "Come on, Dad. Your sister and your best friend both married Humphreys…"

"A fact that signals their distinct lack of intelligence and good judgment." Chuck cleared his throat. "After dinner, you and I should also discuss your summer internship."

"There's nothing to discuss, Dad. I'm coming to BI. Right?"

"There have been some… developments on that end. I'll share more in due course. Get here safely, and for the sake of your mother, not a minute after seven."

"Sure thing, Dad. See you soon."

He hung up. _A meeting just for the immediate family? Wonder what this is all about? And no Humphreys… hope_ _Dad and Uncle Dan aren't at war again…_

Henry had been listening to his father's sly jabs about Humphreys his entire life. Although his Aunt Serena and his Uncle Nate both married Humphreys, Henry knew that Chuck Bass' Humphrey snark was generally directed toward Uncle Dan. Chuck Bass and Dan Humphrey would have likely remained enemies if they hadn't married best friends. Henry's Dad disagreed with _everything _Uncle Dan did. And, judging from what Henry had gathered over the years, the feeling was more than mutual on Uncle Dan's part.

He didn't really care, though. Of course, growing up, he'd hung out with Alexander Archibald a lot more than the Humphreys. Sam and Chloe were a few years his junior, and Randy was younger still... Dan and Serena's youngest son wasn't even in high school yet, and Henry was a freshman at Columbia...

...a Columbia freshman who was _seriously _smitten with Constance junior Samantha Celia Humphrey.

Henry couldn't even remember a time when he didn't have Sam on the brain. He wasn't old enough to remember when she was born, but Aunt Serena always laughed about the way her four year old nephew stood over her cradle like a silent sentinel, watching her with his basilisk-like Bass gaze (okay, perhaps Auntie S didn't use the word "basilisk"... that might have been Uncle Dan). His first memories of Sam were of a little girl so exquisite that people on the street would stop to stare at her, to loudly and vocally proclaim that she was the most _beautiful _child they'd ever seen.

And she _was. _Henry knew that Sam lamented not being a statuesque blonde like her stunning mother Serena, pretty little sister Chloe, and _cool _Aunt Jenny. But her midnight dark hair made her gorgeous, almond-shaped royal blue eyes that much more dramatic. Her rose petals complexion was _perfect... _she didn't get that skin from the Humphreys _or _the van der Woodsens... but she had the most soft, most _amazing _skin Henry Bass had ever touched.

When he was younger, he didn't think much of it... he just would grab her hand if she went to touch something that she shouldn't, or to bring her over to Mom or Aunt Serena for one reason or the other. But before their cold war, Henry had found himself making excuses to be near her… at holiday dinners… at the interminable parties everyone in their set attended… when she was visiting the Basses, or he was visiting the Humphreys.

Then it was almost as if Sam went into a cocoon. She hacked off her glorious waist-length dark hair with a pair of scissors... Henry remembered how his mother had screamed and raged at her young niece.

"Auntie B, _it's just hair_," shrugged Sam. "It'll grow back."

Sam began to hide her slender, young body in shapeless clothing, and went around looking unkempt. When Henry remarked about this, Sam just shrugged.

"None of that matters to me, Hank," she told him, with all of the earnestness that a twelve-year-old could muster. (Samantha Humphrey was the _only _person who could call Henry Bass 'Hank'... and live.) "I'm not like the superficial bimbos in your harem. I mean, why do girls have to get their hair done and wear dresses anyway? I think it's silly and boring."

"Ah, but there's nothing more beautiful than a beautiful girl," he remembered telling her, all of fourteen, smoothing back her hair, "with beautiful curls, and beautiful eyes, who enhances her beauty instead of hiding it..."

"Why?" The look on her face was a very Humphrey one, a look of commoner superiority that frustrated the _hell_ out of his parents... but intrigued the _hell _out of him.

"Why would you hide a rose beneath a basket, Samantha?" Henry drawled. "All it will do is shrivel and die... and beauty should be seen... enjoyed... _ravished..."_

"Yuck, that's nasty, Hank," she replied. "You sound like a bad romance on Kindle."

Henry lifted his patrician jaw arrogantly. "There are girls who would kill to have me talk to them that way."

"Then heaven forbid I ever become one of those _pathetic _loser girls," snapped Sam. "It doesn't matter what's on the outside, Hank. What matters is what's up here," she pointed to her head, "and what's here," and she pointed to her heart.

Well, Samantha Humphrey certainly was in Henry's head and heart. He'd spent his entire time at St. Jude's romancing every single pretty girl who passed through Constance's doors. His conquests were legion, and he was widely rated as the most desirable guy at school. Although he was in college, his reputation and legend had surpassed even his father's… after all, Dad spent most of St. Jude's _totally_ in love with Mom, and Gossip Girl had documented the entire affair. But no girl had ever captured the younger Bass' heart. Many tried… all failed.

Of course, Alex Archibald, now a senior, had taken his place as King of Constance. But there was no way in hell that a kid who was half-Archibald and half-_Humphrey _would ever match up to the progeny of Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf in sheer seduction. It just wasn't happening. Not in their parents' generation… and certainly _not _in theirs.

Not to mention the fact that Alexander had spent their entire childhood thinking of _his baby sister _in the same way that he thought about Sam!

Henry was not okay with that. Lia was just a little kid! At least Sam was sixteen...

Well, she'd still been fourteen the summer that she sprayed their horses with water and got everyone in trouble…

Wetting her white tank top in the process. A tank top that she hadn't bothered even to throw on a bra underneath ("in typical crass Humphrey fashion," his mother would have said).

Even now, more than a year later, Henry's mouth watered, remembering the delicious sight. For no matter how many girls he'd bedded since then, he didn't think he'd ever be satisfied until he knew whether her breasts tasted as delectable as they looked.

And she was _innocent. _Even his own sisters hadn't managed to get all the way to sixteen with their virginity intact. (Every time he thought of it, Henry could just _kill _Dex Baizen and... and... that _Archibald _who called himself his best friend all over again. The fact that he'd been initiated into manhood by Abby Collins at the tender age of fourteen on the St. Jude's balcony after school didn't matter… Lia and Ellie were his _baby sisters._)

Sam Humphrey wasn't interested in popularity, or boys... he'd had a bad summer of wondering if she was into _girls, _but her very vocal crush on this dipshit looking author guy named John Green, and the fanpages all over her cloud, proved to Henry that his Sam was straight as an arrow.

Henry loved everything about Sam. He loved even the things that he didn't quite get about her. As different as they were, as much as _he _cared about appearances and the norms of the elite, as much as he knew that she didn't care, he knew that she was his match...

A match that wasn't talking to him at the moment, because as she told him, he was an _asshole_.

A match that even the buxom redhead he'd left in her Westchester County bed with a smile on her face couldn't make him stop wanting.

A match that…

His phone rang. _Alexander. _Glaring at the screen, Henry _almost _didn't answer. However, his _former _best friend never used the voice function of his phone… a fact that amused Uncle Nate, but frustrated Aunt Jenny to no end. If he were actually _calling… _

He picked up the call. "Archibald. I assume you've been thinking up an appropriate _apology _for being _inappropriate _with…"

"Henry, I'm sorry, man, but that's not what I'm calling for."

Henry frowned. "You sound terrible. What's wrong? Cold? Flu? Dying of pneumonia?"

That's when Henry heard Al choke on a _sob. _Always affable Alexander Archibald, who never raised his voice, cursed, or even _frowned… _crying.

"Henry, it's my dad," he said. "He's in the hospital. He's had a heart attack…"

"A _heart attack?" _Henry's blood ran cold in his veins. "But he's not even… is he…"

"He's in emergency. We just got here…"

"What happened?"

"We were at the athletic club, playing squash, and everything was fine. Then he grabbed his arm, and…"

"Where's your mom? In Paris still?"

"No, she's here, thank God. But Mom is... she can't even… and the _press _wants to talk to her… and they were all in her face… I think I punched someone from WABC so we could get through the doors. On national TV." Al sniffed. "When Dad comes to, he's going to love that."

"Fuck the press." Henry had already pulled out his tablet and was messaging his Dad. "Have you contacted anyone?"

"No. It all just happened… we just got here five minutes ago. They rushed him into the operating room… listen, Henry, I know you and me have been at odds lately… but man, I can't even _think…"_

"You don't have to think," Henry assured him. "Not at a time like this. That is what a best friend is for. To think for you."

"Dude, I'm sorry about Lia and how I…"

"Let's not worry about that right now," Henry said. "I'm going to call my parents. You just stay with Aunt Jenny till Uncle Nate gets out of surgery, okay?"

"Okay, man, it's just that… Henry, he's my _Dad."_

"And he's my godfather, uncle, and Senator. Uncle Nate is going to be _fine. _Mom and Dad will be on their way as soon as I call, if they aren't already. Your job is to keep your Mom calm."

"Okay. Thanks, man."

"Don't mention it. Get off the phone. We'll be there before you know it."

Henry hung up. A text message popped up in response to the one he'd sent his Dad.

_H - J texted your Mom. On our way to Lenox now. Meet us at home. _

He glared and shut his tablet's case. So the kids were supposed to twiddle their fingers and sit at home while their favorite uncle's life was on the line? Usually Chuck and Blair's word was law, but...

His phone lit up. It was Lia.

"Hen?"

"Hey, Li. You've heard?"

"Yeah. Mom called me. Did they reach you?"

"They did. Are you and Ellie at home?"

"Yes." Pause. "What do you want us to do?"

Henry marveled, despite his concern for Uncle Nate, over the way a crisis had catapulted him from Bass Twin Enemy Number One to Heroic Big Brother.

"Stay there. I'm in my limo and can swing by to pick you up. Do Aunt Serena and Uncle Dan know yet?"

"I texted Sam. She says if we go to the hospital, she wants to go. But she's all the way on the West Side, and…"

"Don't worry," Henry cut his sister off. "I've got her. Stay put, I'll be there in 30."

"All right. And… Hen?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"I love you… and I'm sorry."

Henry smirked, feeling genuine warmth for his headstrong, bold, and amazing little sister.

"Love you too, Li. Tell El to sit tight… I'll swing by, pick up the Humphreys, and we'll be there with Al within the hour."

He hung up the phone. As a Bass, he wasn't much for prayer, but he sincerely hoped that his Uncle Nate would be okay. (And once he was, perhaps he'd listen to Henry's Mom about his frat-house diet… eating pizza, French fries and burgers was okay in college, but not so much when you were a fortysomething Senator, House Majority Whip, and a leading contender for the next presidential race.)

Another, more selfish, essentially Bassian part of him had more pressing thoughts.

_There's nothing like a tragedy to bring people together…_

_What will you say when you see me today, Samantha Humphrey?_

_What will you say?_

**XOXOXOXOXOXO**

_Forever young, I wanna be forever young_

_Do you really want to live forever?_

_Forever and ever…_

_Forever young, I wanna be forever young_

_Do you really want to live forever?_

_Forever, forever young._

**~the end… or the beginning?~**

A/N: I've had this file on my drive since November 2012. Then came the finale, endgame, and _Clair de Lune… _which meant this little story got lost in the shuffle. Where's Waldorf began her wonderful fic _These Kids, _and everyone else began writing their postcanon takes on Chuck and Blair's kids and their friends, and I just didn't feel this was up to snuff. (The very best in this genre, in my opinion, is my Chairy godmother Maryl's _I Told You, _which is up there with _Fake Empire_ in its epic scope_… _everyone in fandom who ships Chuck and Blair should read it.)

Honestly, this is not my best work, and not sure when I'll get back to this, or if I'll complete it, but I wanted you to have it, dear readers and friends. Think of it as my way of saying "thank you."

The most important change in this fic is that the FF is different, so that Henry has kids from our gang who are closer to his age. So here's what happened with the Team Endgame couples:

- Chuck and Blair marry in December 2012, and have Henry three years later, in 2015. The twins, Lia and Ellie, follow three years later, in 2018.

- Dan and Serena are together starting in December 2012, marry in December 2016 after living together for four years, and have Samantha in 2017, Chloe in 2019, and Randy in 2021.

- Nate and Jenny have a secret one-night stand after Chair's baby shower for Henry in 2015. (When Blair is pregnant with Henry and needs to go out on maternity leave, she forgives Jenny, ends her banishment, and asks her to come on board Waldorf.) Jenny goes back to England after Henry is born to resume her life there, but is pregnant with Alexander. In typical Jenny fashion, she lies and says the kid's dad was a friend from Central St. Martin's, and she's going to raise the kid alone… but of course baby Alex (born in 2016) comes out looking like Nate. Dan confronts Nate, Nate goes to England, gets Jenny and Alexander, and they marry a short time later.

So that's how the backstory here differs. As it stands now, I have three storyverses:

-the P&Cverse, based on _Pomp and Circumstance, _follows canon up to 5x19, AU after that.

-the Roseverse, based on _Variations on a Theme: La Vie en Rose, _follows canon up to early season 6, AU after that (so Dan is not Gossip Girl).

-the CdLverse, based on_ Clair de Lune, _follows all of GG canon through and including the 6x10 FF, picks up five hours after the last scene in the TV series.

This was/is a Roseverse story.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend, American lovelies, darlings, jewels, and nonpareils! And to all of you, all over the world, wherever you're reading this… _don't you forget about me!_

**XOXO, Dr. Holland**


	2. Chapter 2

**FOREVER YOUNG**

**Summary:** Sequel to _Suite Bergamasque: La Vie En Rose. _The children of Chuck and Blair Bass, Dan and Serena Humphrey, and Nate and Jenny Archibald grow up and experience life, love and loss... and use their parents' tangled past as a compass through it all. A Team Endgame (CB+DS+NJ), post-season 6 AU fic.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing in the Gossip Girl universe, not even (sadly) Chuck or Nate. Major props to Cecily von Ziegesar, the CW, the producers, actors, and crew, and everyone involved with bringing these amazing characters to life.

**Chapter 2**

_If you can keep your head while all about you_

_Are losing theirs and blaming it on you…_

Henry Bass inwardly recited the old, famous Rudyard Kipling verse to himself as his limo pulled up to the Humphrey brownstone on the Upper West Side. He wasn't sure how his aunt and uncle would take the news that one of their very best friends was in mortal peril…

He also wasn't sure how Sam would take the sight of him after so many months of open hatred.

Nevertheless, as his driver Diego opened the door, none of his discord showed on his handsome face when he stepped onto the sidewalk. He brushed the lapels of his suit jacket, then looked at the imposing windows of the stately abode, almost as large as the Bass residence (although significantly lower in price).

The front door opened, and a blonde blur slammed it shut before running to hug his waist. _Chloe. _Henry's arms closed around the little girl as she sobbed on his shoulder.

_Henry. Thank God you're here, _she signed. _Mom and Dad are so upset._

He cupped her cheek with a big-brotherly hand. Henry would never forget the angst when Aunt Serena and Uncle Dan found out that Chloe would never hear or speak. The adults thought it was such a big deal at first, but Henry had set the tone for the kids. He was all of six, but he insisted that they all learn American Sign Language… _all of them. _

"Come on, Mom," he'd said back then. "It's not the end of the world. It could be kinda cool." Even at not-quite-seven years old, Henry knew the best way to influence the adults in his parents' circle: get Mom on your side. That was because, as everyone in the city knew, Blair Waldorf Bass could persuade _anyone _to see her point of view. Soon, not only were the kids learning ASL alongside Serena and Dan, the adults also learned enough to talk to Chloe… even Dad and Uncle Nate… the Kishlovskys… and Uncle Nate's cousin Tripp's kids… and even the children of more distant family friends still.

Chloe had grown adept at reading lips over the years, and there was some hope that someday she'd be able to talk. But of the kids, Randy Humphrey… technically Daniel Jr., but always called Randy… was the best at it. He was as much like his empathetic mom as his eldest sister Sam was like their father in personality.

"They remind me of us when we were kids, Jen," Dan would often say to his sister. "Or maybe you and Eric…"

To which Jenny would shake her head. "Nah, they're more amazing than we could have ever been."

At many a society event, or gathering of family and friends, one could see Randy and Chloe signing to each other, and one might catch a word or two edgewise… if they weren't using the slang or pig latins they'd invented so that the grownups didn't know _everything…_

And sure enough, when the door opened, the youngest Humphrey emerged, looking for his sister. Randy ambled down the stairs with an easy, casual grace, a younger version of his Uncle Eric…

_Are your parents still here? _Henry signed to him. Although Chloe would likely gather what they were saying, they were so used to signing whenever she was around. During dire times like this, the inner circle of their generation could communicate without words.

_They just left, _Randy signed back. _Dad wanted to be with Aunt Jenny right away._

Henry nodded. _Get in the limo. I'll get Sam._

_Okay, _they both replied.

_Thank you, Henry, _Chloe added. _I'm so glad you're here in New York, and didn't go to stupid Stanford like you threatened to do when you and your Mom were fighting about Yale. Sammi's right. It wouldn't be the same right now without you._

As the two young Humphreys climbed into the limo, Henry wondered how he ended up as an older brother type for the entire Upper East Side.

Still, there was no sign of Sam. He walked up the steps, pushed open the front door, and stepped into the foyer, which was slightly dusty, like one of the charming used bookstores that clung to this neighborhood like a relic of time gone by. Henry found it as charming as his mother found it a reason to fire the help. He'd always liked ancient things.

But there was nothing ancient about the dark-haired young girl standing in Uncle Dan's library, gazing out of the window that looked into the courtyard. Sam Humphrey was of course wearing jeans (heaven forbid she be caught dead in a dress; the world might end), but they were as fitted as the thin white t-shirt that skimmed her glorious curves. Her hair had grown back after her attack with a vengeance, and now curled luxuriously to her waist… stopping as her waist dipped in and just before her _sexy_ ass began.

_My God, the things I'd do. _Henry had a sudden vision of taking her right there in her father's library, peeling the ever-present jeans down, making short work of that top, burying his face between her legs as his hands tested the weight of her _ridiculously perfect _breasts, then perching her on a bookshelf, and slamming into her over and over again until they both _died _of pleasure…

He snapped out of it when he heard her choke on a sob. It startled him at first, because Sam wasn't really the crying type. Then when she broke down into tears, he felt his heart twist as he closed the distance between them in a few strides.

"Samantha," he murmured into her hair, holding her tightly. "It will be all right, you'll see."

"Hank, you don't know that."

She was almost as tall as him, which he loved… she could rest her head on his shoulder, and her breath could breeze over his bowtie and collar to tickle the very faint five o'clock shadow on his chin.

"I do know it. Uncle Nate is in top physical condition. He prides himself on beating all of us whenever we play him in any sport, and outrunning us to boot. The problem is that he doesn't seem to realize he's over 40."

"None of our parents do, they're all in denial. Mom says 42 is the new 21." She sniffed, but didn't let him go. "Where are my…"

"Chloe and Randolph are in the limo. I've come to take you to the hospital."

Exquisite sapphires-for-eyes narrowed. "I should've gone with Mom and Dad."

"Why didn't you?"

Sapphire gaze locked with onyx.

"I…"

Ever afterward, Henry couldn't have told you who kissed whom first. All he knew was that Samantha Humphrey's taste had ruined him for any other girl or woman's kisses. Sam _tasted_ as ridiculous as she _looked. _Never before had a single kiss set him on fire like this, especially not less than two hours after hooking up with another girl.

He could kiss her all night long, and half the next day, and _still _not tire of this.

In the end, it was Sam who broke their kiss and embrace. She had to, because Henry Bass, Prince of the Upper East Side, didn't have _any_ power when it came to her… he'd almost forgotten why he was there, or that his Uncle Nate was in trouble. Samantha had cast her spell over him and didn't even know it.

"This is wrong," she told him firmly, dodging as his fingers caressed her lips. "We can't."

"We can and we will." Henry was now determined to take her back to Columbia with him the second that Nate was out of the woods. Her parents would be distracted with worry, and perhaps Jenny and Alex would even spend the night. What better time?

For the millionth time since school started a few weeks before, Henry was glad to have a single dorm room.

"Henry Bass," she said in a raspy voice, keeping him at arm's length. "I want to be with my _family _right now."

"I am your family." His voice rumbled in his chest as he looked down at her upturned face. Never had he seen another girl who looked quite like her… and he never would.

"Thanks for the reminder that we're _first cousins. _Mom is Uncle Chuck's _sister."_

"Not by blood," Henry returned quickly. "Dad was _adopted _to save a _company _when he was nearly eighteen. It's like your father always says to justify his thing for _your _mom. None of us have any control over Grandmother Lily's many paramours and marriages."

"Yes, but I've known you my whole life!" Sam turned away. "Besides, Hank, we're two different people."

"I find your differences _delectable_."

He curved his hand around her perfect shoulder, and savored her deep shudder.

"Samantha, I know you're frightened. You're frightened for Nate. You're frightened for what this might mean. You're frightened… of _me."_

"I'm not scared of you, jackass." But her words didn't contain her usual fire. They were almost… mild_. _"Hank, really, what are you doing? My uncle's in the hospital having life saving surgery right now. You should be wiping my tears, not kissing me."

_I plan to do both. _"You're right. How selfish of me," he said, offering his elbow. "And for the record, the name is _Henry _Bass. _Jack _Bass is my great-uncle."

Sam balled her beautifully elegant hand into an unladylike fist and _socked_ him.

"Whatever, Basshole! Just like you to take advantage of me in a moment of weakness… I know you, Hank! Any old girl will do… well, _I'm not that kind of girl!"_

She stormed out of the room and slammed out of the front door.

Henry licked his lips. _You're wrong, Humphrey, _he thought. _No other girl will do. Not anymore… not for me._

And no matter what Sam said, the score was now Humphrey – 0, Bass – 1…

Henry planned on _winning._

**XOXOXOXOXOXO**

Lia Bass was _really_ worried about her uncle. She worried alongside Ellie on the front step of the grand Bass mansion, then worried sandwiched between her twin and her best friend all the way to Lenox. She worried as Henry's limo deposited them all on the sidewalk, and worried all the way up to the ER…

"So this is how it's going to go," Henry said as the three Humphrey kids and the three Bass kids walked toward the double doors. "We're going to make sure that Alexander and Aunt J have had something to eat. We're going to wait patiently until Uncle Nate's out of surgery. We're not going to do _anything _that would draw attention to ourselves. As the Senator's nephews and nieces, we are here representing our extended connection. Is that understood?"

When her brother's dark gaze landed on her, Lia made sure to match it with one of her own. Everyone said that Henry was like his father, Chuck, but Lia _knew better. _Sure, Hen _looked_ a lot like Dad, but he was as bossy as Mom! So Lia believed it was her obligation to do what she always did…

"Just because you're the eldest doesn't mean you get to boss everyone around, _Henry."_

Sam nodded. "That's what _I'm_ talking about. Come on, Hank, don't be so _lame."_

"Oh, I think _lame _is the last word you'll use to describe me soon, Samantha," Henry replied, his deep voice noticeably softer, silkier as he drawled her name. "Your brother and sister agree with me, don't you, Chloe, Randolph?" Randy nodded, and Chloe signed back, _I guess._

Lia rounded on her twin. "_Eleanor."_

Ellie looked exasperated. "Li, why do you have to take everything so personally? Henry's right…"

The elevator doors opened, saving Ellie from Lia's wrath. But if looks could kill, Lillian Cornelia Bass would've been guilty of sorocide that evening.

All of the adults were in the hallway just outside of the ER waiting room. Mom and Aunt Serena were standing on either side of Aunt Jenny, who was wearing enormous dark sunglasses. Despite her willowy figure and model height, Aunt J looked incredibly small. Much to Lia's surprise, it appeared as if her Dad and Uncle Dan had just finished having a long talk themselves… Uncle Dan turned to walk into the waiting room, and Dad came to greet them.

Chuck Bass did _not _look amused.

"Henry, I expressly asked you to keep the children at home."

"We aren't children any longer, Dad. The entire North American press corps is reporting in front of Lenox. If they get to be here, then why shouldn't we?"

"Because when I ask you to do something, my decisions are _not _to be second-guessed. You do it at home, and I watched you do it at Bass…"

_Okay, time to call in the big guns, _Lia thought.

She burst into tears. None of the children believed this was totally sincere, and to his credit, her father probably didn't either. But Lia had his beloved Blair's face… and Chuck Bass was a pushover when it came to his princesses.

"Daddy, I'm so scared!" she bawled. "What if Uncle Nate _dies?"_

Lia's caterwauling had its desired effect. Within seconds, she was in her Dad's familiar, strong embrace.

"Nathaniel is not going to die, although your mother has promised to threaten his life the second the anesthesia wears off."

Randy signed to Chloe, _Uncle Nate's going to be fine. _(Chloe exhaled.)

"Uncle Chuck, is the surgery over?" Samantha asked and signed at the same time. She, like Randy, was so used to interpreting for her sister that she always did it if Chloe was there and her hands were free.

"Yes, he's in recovery, and we'll be able to see him shortly."

Lia sighed her relief. Now that Dad and Henry wouldn't have one of their arguments (they didn't get into it often, but when they did, it was _awful), _she could attend to other matters.

"Where's Al?"

"In the waiting room. Daniel's giving him the good news."

Chloe and Randy had already gone to their mother. Aunt Serena's face looked red and puffy from crying, and she held both of her younger children close. Mom looked up, keeping a hand on Aunt Jenny's shoulder…

"I told your father it was no use telling you to stay home," she sighed. "Come…"

But Lia was Blair enough to know what to do next without being told.

"Aunt J, I'm so glad Uncle Nate's going to be okay," she said, hugging her stylish, waif-thin aunt.

"I am too, baby," Jenny said, hugging back. "Thank you for coming…" She lowered her voice. "Al will be so glad to see you, you know… he asked for you."

_Why did she have to say that? _In spite of the situation, Lia blushed.

"Oh, Al isn't thinking about me at a time like this…"

But Aunt Jenny was kissing her cheek.

"Go on," she said. "He's in the waiting room."

Leaving her aunt behind, Lia walked toward the waiting room without another glance. She only hoped her father and brother would be willing to let bygones be bygones, and let Al talk to her. After all, this _was _a time of tragedy.

She pushed open the door, signed in with the attendant, and then began scanning the room until she found him. It was his golden hair, illuminated by an overhead lamp, that caught her eye. (Lia didn't get how _everyone _wasn't transfixed by Alexander Archibald's male beauty. For instance, all the girls into her brother… yeah, she _guessed _he was passable, but it _clearly showed _that they had no taste.)

But Al wasn't alone. Sitting next to him was one of his very best friends in the world.

Lia was shocked. _I thought Daddy sent Dex to live with his father in Dubai, and Henry threatened his life if he came back to live in New York. _Yet instantly Lia knew _why _the Baizen heir had risked the wrath of the male Basses to stay in town…

"Dex."

Lia whirled around. Her twin sister's face was _indescribable. _She felt a surge of jealousy. No, it wasn't that she _wanted _Dexter Baizen for herself. He was too swarthy like his mother and too pinchfaced like his Dad… Lia thought her sister was blind.

What she was now jealous of was that Ellie was in _love. _She'd fallen head over heels in actual, _real _love when what Lia felt for Al was…

"Dad's going to kill you," Lia said. Her words comforted her, even if she _still _didn't think it was fair that Ellie got a boy who adored her enough to risk certain death while she got the mindlessly fickle _Archibald playboy._

Her sister's next muttered words set her off further.

"Let him."

All it took was for Dex to look up and notice Ellie. His entire face lit up as a feline, Bassian smile curved Ellie's full lips and she closed the distance between them. Lia's eyes narrowed as Ellie plopped into his lap. (Inelegantly, Lia thought. And completely unworthy of a daughter of Blair Waldorf Bass!)

"Baby…" Lia heard Dex groan into Ellie's hair as he held her. "God, it feels great to hold you."

"My father and brother are going to _kill _you, D," Ellie said hoarsely, clinging to his neck. "Absolutely murder you where you sit…"

"Well, it's a good thing he's in a hospital, right?" said Al dryly. "Hey, Lia."

"Hi, Al." She sat down in the empty seat on the other side of him, feeling super self-conscious all of a sudden. "We heard the news about your dad."

"Yeah, he's going to be okay. First hour was pretty scary, though." He stared into her eyes. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course we're coming. Our dads are best friends. I'm just glad your mom was in town."

Al let out a deep breath. "Yeah, that was the luck of the draw. But you know, in the end, she wins."

Lia frowned. "Wins? How does her husband almost dying from a heart stoppage mean that she wins?"

"Because now no one's going to want Dad to run for President. If Congress gave him a heart attack, what do you think being in the White House would do to him?"

She hadn't thought about it like that, but when she did, she figured Al had a point. "Yeah. I liked it better when your Dad was mayor…"

"Mom hated it," said Al. "She hates her life with Dad, which is why she's in Europe all the time."

"I thought your parents loved each other."

Shrug. "I guess maybe they still do. But Dad loves politics as much as Mom hates it. She tolerated stuff when he was mayor here in the city, and she could still have her career, too. But Congress is a different story… it's tearing my parents apart."

Lia patted his arm sympathetically, but really, she couldn't relate. Not even the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse had a prayer of tearing Chuck and Blair Bass part. She was only a teen, but in her short lifetime, she'd seen the ways that adversity only made her parents stronger.

"I… don't know what to say about that," she said very slowly. "But I'm here for you, Alex. We're friends, right?"

Before she could answer, Sam came bursting into the waiting room and trotted over to where they sat.

"Uncle Nate's awake! Aunt B and Uncle Chuck are with him now!"

Al jumped up. "He… how is he?"

"I think he's OK!" Sam grinned. "I just peeked my head in, and he said, 'hey, Sam-I-Am!'"

Lia snorted. "Dad always said Uncle Nate was the corny one…."

"My father is not corny!" Al insisted.

"I'm just glad _our favorite uncle _is okay," Ellie snapped at Lia in a very Grand'Mere Eleanor voice, arms wound around Dex's neck. _Like a trollop, _her twin sniffed to herself.

"Did you see my mom?" Al asked Sam.

Sam got a very strange look on her face. "Aunt J's… with my mom and dad. I think they went to the cafeteria to get some food or something."

"Sounds like a great idea," Dex said quickly. "We'll let you go see them, and El and I are going to get something to eat." His hands spanned his girlfriend's waist as he helped her up from his lap, then stood up himself, never letting her go.

Lia's eyes narrowed. "Don't take any detours, or I _will _tell Henry and Dad he's here," she said to Ellie.

"Whatever," Ellie said, apparently going to argue, but giggling shyly as Dex tickled her side. "They've got to catch us first, and _we've _gotten great at hiding."

Lia watched them go out the other door, Dex's arm around Ellie's waist, Ellie looking up to him as if he was the only boy in the entire universe. _Why doesn't anyone feel that way about me? Ellie has it all…_

She felt eyes on her, turned… and looked into Alex's cobalt blue stunners.

"Will you go with me to see my Dad, Li?"

She felt her heart skip a beat. Suddenly, she did _not _want to be at Al's side with Uncle Nate, Mom and Dad looking at her…

"No, thank you," she said curtly. "We'll wait till you get back. Won't we, Sam?" She elbowed her best friend sharply.

"Hey!"

Al looked crestfallen. "Okay." Shrugging, he stood up, shoved his hands into his pockets, and ambled out the door.

Samantha clucked her tongue. "You really ought to stop being so mean to him. I think he really likes you…"

"The only girl Alexander Archibald _really _likes is himself," Lia retorted. "Anyway, my brother _really _likes you and you _hate_ him."

Lia thought that was an easy way to get back on the same page with Sam. Instead, Sam sputtered, and inexplicably…

…turned _red._

"Samantha _Celia _Humphrey," said Lia slowly. "What are you not telling me?"

"Hank, he… h-he _kissed _me."

"Again?"

"Ye…"

"WHEN!"

"Today. A couple of hours ago, when he came to pick me and Chloe and Randy up."

This was _outrageous. _"Sam. You can't _seriously _be telling me that you're falling for my _Basshole _of a brother!"

"Hey! Whenever I call him a Basshole, you get mad at me!"

"You're a _Humphrey, _you don't get to use Bass puns." Lia ran fingers of frustration through perfect, lustrous brown curls. "This is unacceptable, Sam!"

"You used to joke about me being your sister-in-law someday!"

"That was when you _hated _him. You don't hate him anymore! Ugh, you had Henry Charles Bass' _tongue _down your stupid throat and you _LIKED _it!"

"I did not! This is New York, not West Virginia! Hank is my _cousin!"_

"Not by _blood. _And haven't you ever heard of kissing cousins? Because that's what you are!"

"Well, Alexander's practically your cousin!"

"Uh-uh… don't bring me into your den of incest, S-Humps! There are no blood _or _legal ties between _our _family and the Archibalds…"

"Nate and Jenny are your godparents!"

"So what?"

"That's even worse! Al is your _godbrother_… you're bringing _God _into it!"

Lia sighed. "I don't even know _how _I feel about that idiot. Mom says he's just like his dad. And she _also _said that there was no need for me to date someone I'd known all my life…"

"She's biased. You know what happened between Aunt B and Uncle Nate."

"Yeah. I also know that our parents are _disgusting. _Remember when we found that old Gossip Girl site on what they used to call the Internet a long time ago? I can't _believe _they've all seen each other _naked _except for Dad and Aunt S…"

"And _my _dad and Aunt J…"

"Nuh-uh, doesn't count. Because I think Rufus said they used to bathe them together when they were really little."

Samantha clapped her hands to her head. "Our parents really _are _the most disgusting people I've ever heard of! I _have _to get away from New York, which is why I want to win that volleyball scholarship for USC… and why _you _need to come to California for college, too!"

"California universities are for new money and classless _strivers_, Sam! And while I concede that _you're _half Humphrey," Lia sniffed, "the van der Woodsen in you _must _go Ivy. I'm going to Yale, and you are too!"

"No, I'm not. Yale takes one Constance girl per year, and in my year, that's Sarah Collins. Her GPA is light-years ahead of even mine! But it's like you've always said. You're going to Yale to get payback for the way they treated your mom, you've always said… and I'm going to California so I can put a continent between me and your… between me and all my problems and worries here."

"My brother owns his own pla-a-ane," Lia sing-songed.

"And my Uncle Nate has a motorboat docked at our Montecito house," Sam shrugged. "And no one can beat me on a jet ski! Trust me, Li, if I run from your brother, he'll _never _catch me."

But Lia had known Sam all her life, knew her best friend's every mood and expression.

And the defiant glimmer in Sam's starry eyes was telling.

_Oh, Sam, you don't even know, do you? Henry already _has_ you…_

_And once a Bass captures something… or someone?_

_We _never _let go._

**XOXOXOXOXOXO**

"I don't want us to ever fall out of love," said Dex, pulling back from Ellie's "delicious lips," as he always called them. They were in the nearly deserted hospital cafeteria; since dinner was over, the buffet area was technically closed down. But that didn't stop Dexter Baizen and Eleanor Bass for using it as a makeout spot…

Ellie blinked and smiled, inhaling his amazing Dex-scent. "Don't be silly, D," she told him. "You and I have loved each other forever. Nothing will ever tear us apart."

"Of course you'd say that," he chuckled indulgently. "My sweet little El, daughter of the most famous couple in all of New York_. _Love is all you know."

"Is that a bad thing?" She never would tire of looking at his handsome, olive-skinned face. Dex had his mother Penelope's dark coloring and his father Carter's facial features and build. Combined, his genes made for one tall, dark, and mysterious youth… mysteries that were an open book only for Eleanor Bass.

"No." His dark eyes hooded as he cupped her chin gently. "If I have anything to say about it, it's all you'll ever know… and believe me, I plan to have _every _say, El."

"I'm a sophomore and you're a senior," she whispered. "You had to leave St. Jude's because of me! D, I felt so guilty… it's my fault you had to go to _public school!_"

Chuckle. "Eh, Brooklyn Tech's not all that bad. Decent classes, fewer rich assholes like us."

"We are _not _assholes." She and Dex exchanged a look. "Well, at least not _all _of us."

"Doesn't matter. I'm going to Princeton next year. That's far enough for us to be away from prying eyes, but close enough for you to spend weekends with me."

Ellie _loved _being in his arms. "I just want to be with you all the time, D. I…"

She trailed off as she heard footsteps coming into the semi-secluded area of the cafeteria where they were trysting. Looking up at Dex, she saw that he'd already heard… and was pulled her deeper into a nook leading to the conveyor belt for used trays.

"…don't care, Serena! She's being _ridiculous. _Childish! And at a time like this…"

Ellie winched when she heard her mother's voice. Normally, she and Mom got on fabulously. But just then, the last thing she wanted was to be caught with the boy her parents had forbidden her to see… and that her big brother _swore _he'd kill if he ever caught him near her again!

Fortunately for Ellie, the two lifelong best friends didn't realize they were not alone. They were too engrossed in talking about the crisis at hand.

"Blair, this has been going on for a long time. You know she never agreed to his Senate run, but he went for it anyway… and when he started lying about her caring for Anne when she was sick, she was _furious. _That's when she bought that place in France…"

"Again, I repeat, she is being _ridiculous! _She doesn't _really _want to divorce Nate… after everything she did to snag him? I know she's come up in the world but she's _still _little Jenny Humphrey from Brooklyn underneath those sunglasses and all that couture. And when she's angry, she lashes out."

"Well, she told Dan on the phone that her attorney served Nate an hour and a half before he had the heart attack. Nate got the divorce papers right around the time Al got home from St. Jude's… I don't know, I'm guessing he suggested a game of squash to get his mind off it all."

Blair sighed, loud and long.

"Does Alex know?"

"No. None of the kids do. B, he _can't _know! I don't want my nephew to know what it's like to have divorced parents." (Ellie heard her aunt shudder.) "Jenny knows what she went through when Rufus and Alison divorced… how could she do that to her own son?"

"Clearly, she's lost her mind," was Blair's verdict. "You know, we promised each other a long time ago, that our children would never have to go through what we did! Nate doesn't want this… and deep down, J doesn't either."

"I don't know, B," said Serena slowly. "They haven't been happy together for a long time. Dan and I, we've tried to help… but I don't think even they know how to fix it any more."

"I… I don't even know how to begin to relate to that. Chuck and I… he's a part of me. The _best _part of me. Without him, I couldn't even begin to know who I am." Blair sighed again. "And before you say it, S, _spare _me the ode to Humphrey. After that yearlong, over-the-top fortieth birthday celebration you gave the Muppet, I already know you feel the same way about _him… _and I forgive you for your lack of taste."

"Shut up," laughed Serena. "This coming from someone who thinks my smarmy brother is the sexiest man on the planet!"

"Correction. Your _devastatingly sexy _brother is the best man in the _universe…"_

"Ugh, don't tell him that! His head's already big enough!"

"_Anyway_, S, Alex will be fine. We're going to fix this."

"Fix it? How? Blair, if Jenny doesn't want to be married anymore, you can't force her."

(There was silence for a few long moments. Ellie didn't dare look at Dex. She held her breath…)

Then all of a sudden, Serena chortled.

"Ooh, B! You are so _bad!"_

"Clever is the word I'd use to describe myself, but I'm used to translating Serenaspeak. So what do you say, S? Are you in?"

"Blair, we're _really _too old to be scheming!"

"S…"

"Oh, _fine. _I'm in."

Blair clapped her hands once. "Great. So here's what we're going to do…"

_How could Mom not hear my heartbeat? It sounded like a drum machine for a minute there! _Ellie thought as Dex loosened his grip on her, and they stepped out of the shadows, hand in hand.

"D," she whispered, "what are we going to do?"

Dex's eyes were inscrutable. "We have to tell him, baby. He has the right to know."

Ellie studied her boyfriend's face. Realization dawned on her lovely features.

"D, you _knew! _You knew there was something wrong with Al's parents!"

"He's my best friend, El. Of course I knew. And, like a typical Archibald, Al's in denial… he doesn't want to think about it."

"Of course he doesn't, D, because it's just too much! His mom's lived in France since his sophomore year! Now his dad isn't well, and his parents are divorcing… and…"

Dex stopped Ellie's tirade with a kiss. Deep and slow. Long and searing.

"_That _won't ever be our problem, El," he rasped finally when he allowed her to breathe normally again. "I don't want us to ever fall out of love, baby. Promise me you'll always love me…"

"D…"

"_Promise me."_

"I will always love you," Ellie said, meaning it with all her heart. "Forever and ever."

He brushed his lips against hers one more time, setting her heart aflutter.

"Good. Now let's go and talk to Alex. He needs to be filled in."

**~to be continued (I think. Maybe.)~**

A/N: I'm continuing this mainly as fanservice for my loyal readers (I'm looking at you, Chairy godmother Maryl!). I _really _want to get back to _Clair de Lune, _and I thought I'd write a sequel to _Pomp and Circumstance _this summer. But every time I have a moment for fangirling, it seems as if something else comes up… sigh!

Anyway, I may continue this as long as there's interest… but slowly. _Very _slowly. And I'm happy to turn it over to another writer if there is interest… just drop me a line!

**XOXO, Dr. Holland**


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